Blood Bonds
by Jillie062
Summary: From the shadows emerges an enemy even the Chosen could not forsee.  When the vampires declare war on the human race, will they, having already lost one of their own, be any match for them?   Takari, Taiora, Kenyako
1. Prologue: Part 1

_Blood Bonds_

_Prologue: Part One _

* * *

Author's Note: I'm trying something different. Everything will connect in time so please give it a chance. And I'm giving the warning now, this will be higher T rated, so steer clear if you can't handle it.

* * *

The air hung heavy in the Yagami Manor, creating a thick blanket that immersed the room like a corpulent weight. The summer heat had come early this year, making the atmosphere sticky and humid. Yagami Taichi lay atop his bed, sprawled out across the length of the ruffled silken sheets, his body pushed down by the summer breath. His abandoned nightshirt lay across the floor in a crumpled heap, and he was quite indecent in only his sleeping pants.

There was silence in the room, save for the slight snoring emitted from the wild haired brunette. He slept lightly though, for his dreams were troubled by his aching heart. He was plagued by the memory of his deceased wife.

Taichi had been married little more than a year to a young maiden by the name of Akemi. She had within her Taichi's first son, but the pregnancy had been difficult and both had died on the night she gave birth. Taichi returned to his parents' manor to escape the reminders of his own home, to escape the solitude of the empty rooms.

Taichi was roused from his sleep when the silence was sliced through—by the sound of a table falling, perhaps. He threw his feet over the side of the bed and took a moment to rub the weariness from his eyes and wipe the sweat from his brow. Whether the perspiration was from the heat or from his thoughts, he did not know.

Grabbing his night shirt and pulling it over his body, Taichi made his way to the doorway. He heard muffled sounds of—something—and it piqued his curiosity. The brunette made his way down the hallway, running his fingers against the wall like he did as a child when he went to check up on his sister.

Passing the doorway of the master bedroom, Taichi stepped in a warm, sticky substance. He jumped back, grabbing onto his foot and hopping about for a moment. "Mother?" he whispered doubtfully against the door, "Father, are you alright?"

There was no answer and Taichi fought down the panic gathering in the pit of his stomach. He turned from the door and towards the hallway table, finding a candle in the darkness. He lit the candle and sent his gaze towards the puddle forming in the doorway.

"Mother, I'm coming in," Taichi whispered, pressing his face against the door. He was unnerved by the liquid, from which a sickening odor was wafting up into his senses. He pushed the door in, but found some resistance.

Pushing with all of his might, Taichi forced the door open. His father's body fell sideways in front of him. Taichi gasped and fell onto his knees, soaking his pants with blood.

Yagami Susumu moaned painfully as his son grasped onto his shoulders. "Tai-chi," he began weakly.

"What happened to you?" Taichi murmured, holding back the bile that snuck into his throat as he looked his father over. Susumu's face had been peeled nearly skinless and blood poured freely down his throat. His clothes were falling off they'd been shredded so badly, exposing long gashes along his chest and back.

Susumu raised a fingerless hand towards the bed. "Yuuko," he said, his voice weak. Taichi released his father gratefully and stood upon shaky knees. He stumbled forward, candle held out so it might cast light on the bed.

Yuuko lay on her back, hands folded neatly over her breasts. Her stomach had been sliced open and her innards were set around her like decorations. Taichi wretched and released the bile onto the floor.

"Who did this?"

Susumu stayed silent, saving his remaining strength to inhale sharply. "Hikari," he managed finally.

Taichi, horrified, ran from the room and down the hallway. "Hikari!" he screamed as he slid down the hallway. He stopped at the doorway, extending a shaky hand towards the knob. "Oh Gods, please be well."

He paused for a moment after opening the door, eyes searching over her body for movement. She lay perfectly still, turned unto her side with her knees pulled up close to her chest.

He walked in silently, moving to set the candle upon her bedside table, but the table lay on its side.

"Hikari?"

He shook her shoulder gently in an attempt to awaken her, but she would not be stirred. The flame of the candle flickered against the skin on her neck, casting light upon a trail of blood leading from two puncture wounds.

"It's tragic, isn't it?"

Taichi whirled around towards the intruding voice. He stared into the empty space. No one else was in the room.

"She was a beautiful young woman. Had her mother's eyes."

"Show yourself," Taichi demanded, turning in a circle to cast light in all the corners.

"Would have made a lovely wife," the voice continued.

"Who are you?" Taichi shouted.

A hand was suddenly around his throat and Taichi was pushed against the wall. The attacker lifted him off the ground so that the tips of his toes barely scratched the floor. Taichi clawed at the hand hard enough to draw blood, but it did nothing to loosen the grip.

Taichi met the dark blue eyes of the man strangling him. It made him shudder to stare into those deep, menacing orbs. The man's face was framed by his dirty blonde hair; he had paler skin than anyone Taichi had ever seen. His lips were blood red and pulled into a smirk.

"W—why?" Taichi choked out with the last of his breath.

The man threw Taichi across the room and into the dresser against the opposite wall. The candle fell and rolled under the bed, catching the skirt on its way along. "Because," he said, taking long strides towards the coughing brunette, "your mother's betrayal was worth more than just her pathetic life."

His mother? He couldn't imagine what Yuuko could have possibly done to this man.

"And now you too will die." He lunged forward with more speed than Taichi thought a man was capable of. Pain flared up like a fire catching his skin, sinking down into his gut. Blood began to stain his shirt, which drew a smile from the attacker's lips. He pulled the knife out and struck again, this time slicing between two ribs.

The bed skirt caught fire. The man stood, leaving the blade in its new home. He walked over to the bed and gently picked up the limp body, pulling her close and staring down at the young girl. "The beautiful ones always seem to taste the sweetest," he explained when Taichi reached his arm out in protest.

He ignored the growing flames as the man walked away carrying his sister's body as if it was some sort of trophy. Words failed him. Movement seemed an impossible task. He was going to die while the fire reduced his body, his home, his parents to little more than ash.

* * *

His run looked more like a drunken stumble to those who casually glanced at him as he made his way towards the center of the town. His vision was beginning to blur. His heart was ready to pound itself straight out of his chest. He was losing more blood than he could afford to with each agonizing step.

Finally he reached his destination. Taichi left bloody footprints on the stairs as he made his way up to the building, and smudged the doorknob with a fresh crimson coat as he forced the door open.

The building was still lit with a row of candles on either side of the walkway in the middle of the room. Priests sitting at both sides of the room forgot the prayers they were reciting at the sight of Taichi.

Some of them gasped, some cried out in horror. One or two jumped up to try and help, but Taichi began walking down the center of the room.

In front of the wall opposite the entrance was a statue of the Earth goddess. Taichi all but ran into the life-sized stone object.

"Hear me!" he screamed, beating his fists against her, leaving splotches of blood with every strike, "hear me Goddess!"

The priests cried out in outrage and quickly tore Taichi away from their goddess.

Taichi fell to the ground. He struggled to sit up. Blood was still flowing freely from his wounds. "He killed her! He killed her!"

The statue began to grow brighter and shake slightly. At first Taichi thought it was just his head tricking him, but the priests were gasping and backing away in a tense huddle. The trembling was now a violent shake.

A crack burst down the middle. The light that shined out of it was blinding. The men used the sleeves of their robes to shield their eyes. Taichi could only lower his head and use his bare heels to try and push himself back. He was unable to stand.

The statue burst into innumerable pieces of stone. The small bits rained down on the awe-struck men. As the light dimmed down to something they could look at, the form of a woman took shape.

The sound of the priests falling to their knees and bowing their heads to the ground was not registered by Taichi. All he could focus on was the woman hovering in front of him. The Earth goddess slowly moved down until her feet found the floor.

He gazed upon her unblinking. She was beautiful yet terrifying at the same time. Her skin was a soft brown and her hair a dark green that blew around her face in wild tangles. Small leaves pressed against her skin only where it would be inappropriate to be without clothing. There was little left to the imagination, however, as Taichi could easily see every curve of her body.

"Rise, Taichi."

Taichi had no strength left in his body. The last ounces of his life were leaking out of him and pooling around him. But somehow, no doubt with the help of the woman in front of him, Taichi found his way onto unsteady legs.

"Why have you disturbed my slumber?" she demanded. Her voice was only a whisper but somehow it echoed around the room.

It took a moment for Taichi to find his words. "A man broke into my home and murdered my family. He took my sister from me."

"And do you wish for me to kill him?"

"No," Taichi answered boldly, straightening himself as best he could, "I want to kill him."

"There is much sorrow in your heart. And now so much hate." She stepped forward, gliding across the ground. Her hand reached out and touched Taichi's sweat dampened cheek.

His body felt like it was on fire. He could feel intense heat running through his two stab wounds, piercing as deep as the knife had. He screamed in pain and fell to the ground.

"You will not die," the goddess said, backing away again. "You will live until you have killed the man who murdered your sister. But be warned: you are not immune from injury. You cannot die, but you may be on the brink of death many times. You may wish for death to claim you, but it shall not."

Taichi felt the wounds on his stomach. They were shrinking rapidly, and the burning sensation in his wounds was being drawn out of his body. They were closing up, but he still had little blood to circulate through his body. It would take weeks for him to regain his strength.

"In return?"

The Earth goddess smiled down at him. "When you have killed this man you will become my servant for the rest of eternity."

"Very well," Taichi agreed.

"The rest of eternity," she repeated.

"I understand. I would spend eternity burning in the fires of Hell if it would mean I could avenge my family."

Her hair blew backward as if a wind had traveled into the sanctuary. She began to glide back to where she had exploded out of the stone. "If you should fail before the World Change," she warned, her voice carrying on the wind that was not there, "you will leave the world at the mercy of his kind."

"World Change? His kind?" Taichi whimpered weakly, his body now responding to the severity of his injuries. "But I don't understand…"

The world faded away from Taichi. He did not see that the goddess had already returned to her statuesque self. It was as if she had never appeared before him, save for the crumbled bits of stone that had littered the floor. He did not see that there now was a soft smile playing at the edges of the gray lips.

For a long while, he saw nothing.


	2. Prologue: Part 2

_Blood Bonds_

_Prologue: Part Two_

* * *

It was unnaturally cold where they were standing. It was as if the wind had whipped right down their throats and wrapped around their bones. Only one among them seemed immune to the paralyzing chill. He gazed around at the others, eyes narrowed, trying to grasp why they all seemed to be lost to the world.

"Ken," the maroon-haired boy called, fighting to reach him through the heavy current of air. "Ken, what's wrong with you?"

The tall boy named Ken did not respond. He stared blankly, right through Daisuke, leaving the first boy feeling uncomfortable.

"Come on, Ken," Daisuke pled, frustrated. He grabbed onto Ken's shoulders and shook him. "Snap out of it! You have to help me. We have to fight!"

"Fight?" Ken asked blankly. "Why? We're just going to get ourselves killed. Just like Osamu…"

"If we don't fight everyone we care about will be killed!" Daisuke insisted, gesturing towards the older Chosen Children standing behind a barrier in the void, unable to join them in battle. "Get a grip! Do you want them to end up like Sam?"

Ken shook his head and blinked repeatedly. "Dai, I don't know what happened. I felt like I wasn't here anymore. I could hear Osamu telling me we'd already lost."

"Don't worry about it. Help me wake everyone else."

Ken made his way to Iori, who was facing the ongoing battle between the Chosen digimon and Belial Vamdemon. "It's my fault. He's dead because of me. Dad died because of me."

"Iori, what are you talking about? You had nothing to do with your dad's death! Think about it. He died on the job."

Iori turned his head up towards Ken. "But he's telling me it's my fault…"

"No! It's not! It's not really your dad, Iori. It's an illusion, a trick!"

"But he says—."

Ken knelt down and placed his hands on either side of Iori's face. "Your dad loved you. And he died protecting someone. And he would never blame you for something you had nothing to do with."

Nodding slightly, the younger of the two raised his hand to wipe tears from his eyes. Ken patted him on the shoulder, awkwardly trying to comfort him. "Thanks," Iori said softly.

At the same time Daisuke was trying to fight through to Takeru, who was insisting that his parents got divorced because he put too much strain on their marriage. He wasn't well behaved enough, he never brushed his teeth without a fight, he couldn't keep quiet so that they could pretend they only had one son. "They only wanted one son. I ruined everything. I broke up our family."

"TS, normally I'd be all over attacking you for being a lousy, worthless git, but there has to be some rationale behind it. You didn't ruin your parents' marriage. They were on the rocks for years, you told me that. He's making you think this way," Daisuke said, pointing up at Belial Vamdemon, who had just knocked Imperialdramon to the ground.

Takeru's eyes darkened. He did not appreciate being taken advantage of by the powers of darkness. "Let's finish this," he snarled.

Tears were falling freely down Miyako's face. "Don't lie to me," she sobbed while Ken and Iori tried to convince her that she wasn't the forgotten child. "I'm not blind. I see the way they treat my siblings compared to me. They didn't want me!"

"Of course you're wanted, Miya," Ken cooed, taking her hand and squeezing it gently. "Look around. We want you in our lives. _I _want you in my life."

Miyako's eyes shut for a long moment. "Dad gives me a bigger allowance than the others," she said with a small laugh. "What was I thinking? I'm the favorite!" She smiled down at her hand in his. "Thank you," she added, serious again.

"Don't mention it. Let's finish this and you can by me a hot chocolate with your extra allowance."

They shared a few meaningful seconds staring into each other's eyes before Iori tugged on both their arms. "Look," he said, pointing.

Daisuke and Takeru were on either side of Hikari, trying to rouse her from her nightmare illusion. But unlike the others she would not give them an explanation in a distant, listless voice. She remained silent, eyes fixated on the ground.

"Kari!" Miyako shouted as the three ran to join the rest of the group. "Wake up!"

But the final Chosen Child could not be reached by commands to ignore the illusion she was trapped in. The world of darkness and terror, blood and death that surrounded her blocked out all else.

"Come on Hika," Daisuke whispered, beginning to panic, "we can't finish this without you."

"Hikari, what do you see?" Takeru pressed, placing a hand under her chin and delicately lifting her face to look at him. He heard Daisuke growl in annoyance, but it barely registered. The look of absolute terror etched on her face captured all of his attention. "Hikari!" he continued, louder this time, "whatever it is, it isn't real."

Reacting by pure instinct, he wrapped his arms around his oldest friend and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Come back to us, Hika," he whispered into her hair.

"Takeru?"

"I'm here, Hikari."

"Please, help me. I was free. It was over. Don't let him take me back."

"Shh, it's okay. I'm here. No one will hurt you. I'm going to protect you, I promise."

Hikari pulled back, forcing Takeru to let his hands slid to her elbows. Her brows were furrowed in confusion as she looked around at her teammates. "Let's do this," she said, trying to mask the fear she felt by speaking in a calm, confident voice.

"Now we're talking," Daisuke answered, turning back to the fight. "Let's give our digimon a hand!" He ran ahead towards the edge of the battlefield, the others following close behind. "Come on Imperialdramon! Kick his ass!"

The other Chosen Children lined up beside Daisuke, their D-3s held high above their heads. They all wanted to put an end to Belial Vamdemon's reign of terror once and for all. They all wished they had the strength to send that sorry excuse for a digimon straight to the digital graveyard.

Suddenly, the digimon began to glow. It was as if they could hear their partners' desire and were answering their pleas. Tiny balls of light shot out of each of the digimons' chests and took the form of their other evolutions.

"Now we're talking!" Daisuke whooped.

The multiple digimon each charged their strongest attacks and aimed for Imperialdramon. He in turn concentrated that power and sent it flying at Belial Vamdemon. The vampire digimon screamed in agony as his body began to break down. He shouted curses at the children, promising vengeance for their insolence. Children were not supposed to cause the downfall of the greatest digital power in existence.

The barrier between the Chosen and the elder children fell as the giant vampire crumbled. They ran to join their successors, reaching them at the same time their tired digimon jumped into their open arms. "You were awesome!" Taichi Yagami hollered, smacking Daisuke on the back before grabbing his sister and hugging her.

"Yeah, I mean, I'm sure we faced stronger enemies back in the day, but you kids did alright," Yamato added, scruffing up his younger brother's hair.

"Hey, I was there back in the day, remember?" Takeru countered. "And I don't remember any digimon making me feel like I was responsible for ruining peoples' lives before. That we were going to fail and everyone I loved would die, yes, but my very existence was never made to feel like an epic fail itself."

"Yeah, yeah," Yamato said.

"By the way, Hikari, what did you see in your illusion? Were you back at the beach?"

Hikari shook her head at the blonde. "It was somewhere I've never been before. It was like I was remembering someone else's pain. Someone who spent years in darkness, never able to escape."

None of the Chosen Children or any of the other children that had been sucked into the void paid any attention to the decaying mass of digital flesh. As the body broke apart, however, Vamdemon's body was freed from his higher level form. He was splayed out on the ground, surrounded by bits and pieces of his other body, staring up at the children who had defeated him.

He scanned over their tiny forms, hatred consuming him, until his eyes fell upon one of them in particular. A young girl in pink was standing in the center and holding the Tailmon. All the others were listening to her speak. He recognized her as the eighth child, the girl he had tried to kill three years before.

Images of forgotten times flashed in his mind. He had known that girl before then, he remembered. Years before he tried to take over the Human and digital worlds he had known her. But she had been older then, and he was not some monster made of discarded data.

With the last of his strength, Vamdemon called forth his bats. They flew towards the children, moving as quickly as possible to fulfill their master's last request. The children barely had time to turn before the swarm was upon them, nipping and clawing at the people who had destroyed the great vampire king.

The children shrieked and screamed, throwing their hands over their heads and ducking down to the ground. Only one remained standing where she was. The bats had grabbed onto the sleeves of her shirt pulling her arms apart and forcing the feline to fall to the ground. Their nails dug under her flesh as they gripped onto her. They gathered around her until they possessed the strength to lift her off the ground.

"Kari!" Taichi shouted, fighting off the few remaining bats as he tried to grab at her. "Kari!"

"Help me!" she cried, wincing from the pain of their sharp claws.

Blood began to drip down her arms onto the Chosen Children's' heads. She screamed out in pain, struggling to free herself from the clutches of the demon's servants.

Vamdemon laughed a loud, hollow laugh, catching the attention of the Chosen. He had fought his way onto his knees, and now a long, crimson colored whip rested in his right hand. He was muttering something no one could hear, and with a movement faster than anyone could keep up with, he struck his whip out into the air.

Hikari screamed again and then went silent. A stream of blood arced in the air, painting the sky red for anyone looking up. The bats let her go and she fell twenty feet before hitting the dirt. Vamdemon laughed again. "It is done!" he said triumphantly, throwing his arms in the air before he crumbled into digital dust.

"Hikari! No!" Taichi yelled, running and sliding on his knees beside his sister. "Hikari, say something!"

Takeru was on the other side of her body, blindly grabbing at her hand and holding it tight. "Kari! Kari! Hikari!" Tears fell down his face as he stared down at the broken girl.

Blood began to pool around her. Taichi carefully pulled at her shirt, which was now a deep red. A long gash was exposed, cutting from her bottom left rib all the way to her right side, just below the hip. "We have to stop the bleeding," Taichi said, frantic.

"Taichi," Yamato began, sitting beside his brother and placing two fingers on Hikari's neck. "It's no use. She's dead."

"No, she's not! She can't be!" Taichi cried, stroking her cheek and smearing blood along the side of her face.

Takeru stared blankly down at her. As he went limp her hand slipped out of his and fell into his lap. "She can't be dead," he whispered to no one, "I promised her I'd keep her safe. I promised to protect her."

"Come on," Yamato said, standing and putting his arms under Takeru's. He tried to pull his younger brother away from Hikari's body.

"No!" Takeru screamed. "I promised! I promised! Let go!" He began to slap at Yamato, trying to free himself from his brother. But Yamato would not let go. Finally Takeru turned to him and buried his face into his shoulder, crying.

"She isn't really dead, is she Taichi?" Daisuke asked, a hint of desperation in his voice.

Taichi only nodded, still stroking his sister's cheek. He had known for the second he knelt beside her that she was gone; that feeling of purity, of goodness that surrounded his sister wherever she went was no longer there. The air around her now felt empty, dead.

Daisuke rubbed his face roughly. This wasn't supposed to happen. They were the good guys. They had won. They weren't supposed to get hurt. Their side wasn't supposed to have casualties. Least of all Hikari, the one who knew of the risks of battle, who had experienced all this before. Daisuke wished Vamdemon was still there so he could kill him for what he did.

"Look," Miyako said from a few feet behind them. The Chosen turned and followed her finger until they saw the white feline lying on the ground. She was as limp and lifeless as Hikari was, and little flecks of dust had begun to float into the air.

Within a matter of seconds Tailmon's body had disintegrated, leaving nothing but the memory of her. The small indent in the dirt held the undeniable truth: Hikari Yagami, the Chosen Child of Light, was dead.


End file.
